75-year-old sentenced to 10 years for defiling 11-year-old girl in Rivers

A 75-year-old man, Promise Chukwumatti, has been sentenced to ten years imprisonment without an option of fine for defiling an 11-year-old girl. 
A Rivers State Family Court sitting in Port Harcourt sentenced today, July 15, 2026. 
Justice Rita Oguguo, delivering her judgment, held that the prosecution had proved the one-count charge of defilement beyond reasonable doubt through oral testimony, a confessional statement, and other evidence presented before the court. 
The court heard that Chukwumatti lured the girl with gifts of money on her way to school before having carnal knowledge of her several times in his apartment. 
According to testimony before the court, the convict had carnal knowledge of the girl multiple times in his apartment after giving her ₦200 either on her way to or from school. 
Justice Oguguo noted that the offence ordinarily attracts life imprisonment, but said the court took into consideration the fact that the convict’s children are motherless before opting for a ten-year term without the option of a fine. 
The judge described Chukwumatti as “a shame to fatherhood” and ordered that his name be entered into the Rivers State register of rapists. She also issued a restraining order barring him and his family from going near the victim’s family. 
In addition to the prison term, the court ordered Chukwumatti to pay one million naira to the victim’s family as compensation. 
The prosecution had been led by the Chief State Counsel in the Rivers State Ministry of Justice, Precious Ordu, whose case the court upheld in its judgment. Ordu welcomed the verdict, saying it would serve as a deterrent to persons contemplating similar offences.